New Delhi: The Minister of State for Road Transport &Highways, Shipping, Chemical & Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Lal Mandaviya has stressed upon the Central Government’s commitment to build high class road infrastructure in the North Eastern states of the country. Speaking to mediapersons in Itanagar yesterday he said that of the total 2570 km roads sanctioned for the state, 653 km have been completed and 1917 km are under progress. Out of this total length, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways will build 710km, state PWD will construct 420km, NHIDCL 722 km and Border Roads Organization 718 km. The ongoing projects and their costs are 250km Nechipu-Hoj (Rs 1985 crore); 20 km Dibang-Alubari river bridge system ( Rs 860 crore); 75 Km Pasighat-Pangin (Rs 500 crore) and 12 km Itanagar-Naharlagun 4 laning (Rs 250 crore). The Minister said that building of road infrastructure in the state would herald a new era of socio-economic development.
On a two day visit to Arunachal Pradesh, the Minister inspected the Pappu-Yupia-Hoj-Potin section of NH 713 A and Potin-Ziro section of NH-13. He also spoke to senior officials from the department .
The 50 km long Pappu-Yupia-Hoj-Potin section of NH 713 A has been damaged at about 30-35 spots as a result of heavy rains and consequent landslides since April. Two laning of the road through the state PWD was completed in March this year, and the Ministry is now required to take it over for maintenance purposes. Shri Mandaviya inspected several of the damaged locations and expressed serious concern at the condition of the highway . He directed concerned officials to take urgent remedial measures at these sites. He also stressed that guidance should be sought from expert agencies for making use of appropriate technology for hillside maintenance and slope stability as a long term measure.
Regarding the 50 km long Potin-Ziro section of NH-13, Shri Mandaviya said that work on repair of bad road patches must be done on a priority basis in a time bound manner. He directed officials to submit the repair estimates to the Ministry within a week. The Minister also discussed land acquisition issues regarding the stretch from Poti to Bopi via Ziro with concerned officials.
